My middle son lived in Manhattan for ten years before relocating to Amsterdam, and during his tenure in the Big Apple he sprinkled numerous conversations with complaints (okay, rants) about the excessive costs of the city’s infrastructure. He couldn’t understand why other countries could extend their subway systems and railways at a fraction of America’s cost, and could complete projects far more rapidly. He loved New York, but the glaring and costly inefficiency offended him.
I had no wisdom to impart. I didn’t know–and was unable to speculate– why a subway extension in the U.S. cost so much more–and took so much longer– than similar projects in other countries.
Until very recently, I was equally unaware of the policy war centered on something called the abundance agenda, which turned out–despite what I still consider a weird label–to be an argument over that same question: why can’t America build things anymore?
As an article from The Atlantic explained:
The abundance agenda is a collection of policy reforms designed to make it easier to build housing and infrastructure and for government bureaucracy to work. Despite its cheerful name and earnest intention to find win-win solutions, the abundance agenda contains a radical critique of the past half century of American government. On top of that—and this is what has set off clanging alarms on the left—it is a direct attack on the constellation of activist organizations, often called “the groups,” that control progressive politics and have significant influence over the Democratic Party.
The article documented national examples that dovetailed with my son’s complaints. For example, the amount of time that elapsed between Biden’s signing of his infrastructure bill and actual construction meant that voters hadn’t seen the effects of that legislation by the next election.
A massive law had been enacted, yet Americans did not notice any difference, because indeed, very little had changed. Biden had anticipated, after quickly signing his infrastructure bill and then two more big laws pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into manufacturing and energy, that he would spend the rest of his presidency cutting ribbons at gleaming new bridges and plants. But only a fraction of the funds Biden had authorized were spent before he began his reelection campaign, and of those, hardly any yielded concrete results.
Only 58 of the “nationwide” electric-vehicle-charging stations were in service; completion dates for most road projects was mid-2027. Rural broadband access to had connected zero customers.
Policy wonks began to ask the same questions my son had asked. What was going on? American government used to construct engineering miracles like the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of schedule and under budget– Medicare had become available less than a year after it passed, but the Affordable Care Act’s exchange took nearly four years. And an embarrassing question: Why was everything slower, more expensive, and more dysfunctional in states and cities controlled by Democrats?
The policy wonks concluded that, over the years, a web of laws and regulations has turned any attempt to build public infrastructure into an expensive, agonizing nightmare. But removing excess regulations is highly controversial, because the limitations on building and government were largely imposed by interest groups that believed them necessary– interest groups that have dominated the Democratic Party for the last half century, and who saw their task as preventing an alliance of government, Big Business and Big Labor from subordinating the needs of citizens. They wanted to prevent the government from doing harm– but too often, they ended up preventing it from doing anything at all.
The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, is an example. Passed in 1969, the law required the government to undertake environmental-impact studies before authorizing major projects and created elaborate legal hurdles to navigate.
Activist groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund saw NEPA as a potent tool to stop Washington (and, through state-level copycat laws, state and local governments) from building harmful projects. They pursued an energetic legal strategy to expand the law’s reach, turning it into a suffocating weapon against development. Over time, the environmental-impact statements required to start a project have ballooned from about 10 pages to hundreds; the process now takes more than four years on average to complete.
The article has many more examples, but the issue is so contentious because it isn’t “either/or”–it requires policymakers to find the mean between extremes. How much regulation is needed to safeguard the environment, or protect against government overreach–and how much is too much?
If and when we elect lawmakers who actually care about governing, it’s an issue they need to address.
I recently read and highly recommend “Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson on this topic. The audiobook is read by the author Ezra Klein.
Maybe something I could add to this?
Big labor, you hit the nail on the head. The unions have an oversized influence on policy. And that’s unfortunate, because unions were valuable in the beginning, now they just are juice squeezers!
They get involved in shenanigans with unsavory types, they get in bed with particular industries to extort tax monies from the general population.
Why in holy heck are the roads torn up every single summer? A time when everybody is driving, the roads capacity are squeezed because of construction.
A brilliant idea would be to quit using asphalt which has to be replaced every five to 10 years. And constantly has to be patched during that time. Concrete is the much better way to go, and it is cost effective, on a par with oil-based asphalt. And a concrete road/highway/freeway, can last 40 or 50 years, especially if ceramic sealer for the concrete is used. This could have the concrete last another 10 or 20 years. Not bad, when you can actually use the roads we all pay for anyway, at full capacity for a change.
The same with the school unions, teachers unions and all the rest that go with. They have taxing powers, which allow them to tax at will, at least here in Illinois. Since they allowed school vouchers, the total tax bill for homeowners has doubled in five to six years. That completely falls on the civilian taxpayer. Because the corporations, get tax break deals.
As a consumer, do we see any value in the unions promoting products that need to be constantly addressed, or, unions fighting against tax fairness because that could shrink the pool of available money to go after. Or all of us paying for people to send their kids to private schools?
Unions have an undue influence far and above those who belong to the union. The union leadership, uses it coercion and donations to convince politicians to use inferior materials that need to be constantly maintained. Or to use particular contractors. It keeps the money rolling in to the union coffers, so they can spend it on politicians.
The unions really have devolved over the decades. They became a cliche! The good that they did for workers rights have long past. Many corporations are realizing that if you pay an employee well, offer benefits, you’re going to get the best employees. There’s no need for the Arm & Hammer Union routine anymore.
Now they’re freaking out over certain individuals wanting to regulate unions, but the unions did it to themselves through their own personal greed and dishonesty. The politicians latch on to the teat of the unions, and the unions, live at the feed trough of the taxpayer! And not corporate taxpayers, the average Joe! I know one thing, if every single person quit paying taxes, you would actually get a lot of attention from the politicians and everyone else. You can’t imprison an entire country, but, taxpayers can bring it to its knees. And maybe that’s what needs to happen. Because the unions, like most politicians, are just another scam, a toothless tiger with other interests more important than the people they are supposed to represent.
‘Now they’re freaking out over certain individuals wanting to regulate unions, but the unions did it to themselves through their own personal greed and dishonesty.’
John; the creation of any good system for the people with even a hint of profit always attracts the criminal element who find their way into the system and eventually fuck it up. I come from a union family; I remember my father being seriously ill but taking 2 buses to meet his protest time at Chevrolet Commercial Body (later GMC Truck and Bus). They were a defense plant during WWII. He maintained his membership in UAW Local 23 till his death; I’m glad he didn’t live long enough to see the plant shut down by all employees rather than take a temporary pay cut to remain in business.
America has always been touted as “The land of milk and honey.” and our “streets are paved with gold”; how can we question why immigrants from around the world continue pouring over our boundaries? We work for what we need and want and thinking people understand they will never be one of the 1% reaping all of the benefits of our labor. But…what we are seeing now as “government leadership” is founded on lies and has become the Fascism we fought against only to have those specified groups of “Blacks and women” who gave their lives, buried in Arlington Cemetery, to have their names and records removed. And the same in the Pentagon which is now run by the unqualified minions of the 1% as the president reaps billions while placing his name above the United States of America in his credits. His personal abundance is becoming the downfall of the entire nation as the workers sustain him and the 1% while trying to live on the pittance left to them for their labors.
I don’t want to be wealthy; I simply want what is rightfully my return on my investment during working years. My salary in the Indianapolis Republican City Government did NOT provide an abundance of anything; I learned to live within the limited income and managed to support myself and at times provide help for my children struggling in today’s economy.
“Because the unions, like most politicians, are just another scam, a toothless tiger with other interests more important than the people they are supposed to represent.” Once believed to be communist based because it aided the workers; unions, like the current government, need to be cleaned out of the criminal element now the ruling factor. I am not saying the union is the answer to all labor problems, nor should workers be forced to be unionized or to be forced out of unions.
“If and when we elect lawmakers who actually care about governing, it’s an issue they need to address.”
I would agree with John, but only on one condition: I would specifically narrow down unions to public unions. Unions representing the working classes have been destroyed for decades since they almost toppled the oligarchy in the 30s. Despite the attacks, public unions have persisted and even thrived. I believe Dear Leader’s administration has mentioned going after public unions embedded within the states, but I am sure police and fire pushed back on that hard.
John is right about public unions on a local level, and the original goals of the Tea Party were to eliminate them because they were responsible for the growing costs of local and state governments. Ahh, but employees from both parties wanted to keep the unions. Imagine that!!
Every year, the police and fire departments would receive 5-10% raises, while the working class barely kept pace with inflation. We have police and fire personnel in our tiny community earning salaries exceeding six figures. I can assure you that it far exceeds the average worker, including the mayor.
If the working class had unions that fought for them, it wouldn’t be an issue, but we don’t. The oligarchy has used its puppets to eliminate unions. I also disagree with John about the corporations paying fair wages to avoid unions creeping in. CEO pay should be comparable to that of the average worker. The oligarchy and its executives are profiting from the productivity of their employees. That has been the case for 40 years of neoliberalism, and it’s part of why the government has privatized its services, thereby avoiding the higher costs associated with public union employees.
When Sheila first mentioned “abundance,” I thought she meant the term used by the Tech Broligarchy because they claim the AI God will provide an abundance of wealth to the people. It’s why they want “freedom cities” that are free of government, where tech executives and billionaires run the show.
I’ll have to see if the “abundance” topic has overlap…
As Sheila suggests it is all about balance. When balance is lost, problems arise and folks often swing to extremes to try to solve the problems that are a result of extremes in the first place! The solutions require knowledge, critical thinking and a desire to solve the problems rather than rant about them or make political hay out of them.
Solving problems is possible. It’s what people have been doing for as long as there have been people. It’s what has made us the dominant species on Earth. Failure to solve problems tends to shorten our life expectancy. It could even result in the extinction of our species.
So ask yourself if what you are doing is helping to solve a problem or just ranting about it. Or worse, using it as an excuse to blow your own horn and attack somebody.
Rather than making any attempt to educate their constituents about why they are voting “NO” on some bill to add regulations, most lawmakers take the appeasement route to re-election. Why lead when you can sell your seat to the highest bidder?
We should change our country’s motto from “In God We Trust” to “Going Along To Get Along”.
I put the blame for lack of public works development on the electorate, not a particular party or administration. If the people truly want a subway extension, they’ll form political action committees, make appointments to talk to their representatives, make signs, hit the streets and demonstrate. That rarely happens in the U.S. so we get the projects our representative government is told by lobbyists to provide.
Thirty years ago a light rail system was designed for Indianapolis. It was a natural because the city already owned much of the right-of-way. Its funding was stopped by political maneuvering. People did show up at the Indianapolis Statehouse for General Assembly Committee meetings, but their numbers, ca. 200, were far too few.
The GA funding bill was blocked one year by a “poison pill” which one party could not stomach. Two years later a modified funding bill was passed, but it specifically excluded “rail” from the type of system which could be funded. So, Indianapolis got the system which the lobbyists would allow: a bus rapid transit system.
And what happened to the city-owned right-of-way? It was cleverly converted to bicycle/walking paths, which the public will never allow to be taken from them for mass transit.
JoAnn,
Amen to that Sister.💐
Jimmy Hoffa found out what happens when you rock the boat too much. He became the fattened calf slaughtered in celebration to protect the grift. Probably dumped in one of those sausage vats, maybe in Chicago? I don’t know how many Chicagoans ended up eating mobsters, lol! Mmmmm, how unsavory.
The day of cheap labor and consumers (the same people) was ended for good reason; It was killing or sickening us. Back then, we pretended it was only killing and sickening immigrants who were easily replaceable. Then we slowly reformed the laws to protect people and climbed the prosperity ladder to become the safest and most comfortable people the world had ever known.
However, we collectively had second thoughts because we learned that safety and comfort can lead to boredom and laziness, and our physical threats had become mental threats.
We had blindly entered an era in which we collectively knew so much that we had to depend more and more on the expertise of others to make the world work for us. Life became mentally overwhelming rather than physically dangerous.
Of course, other countries tried slightly different approaches to pursuing happiness, and, frankly, some have turned out better overall. Now, we look to them to judge our collective results, and we come up disappointed in ourselves.
Welcome to life. Welcome to failure. Welcome to real.
Here’s an idea. Define the social problem first, and then get common agreement on the point of government and what results would improve our happiness for most of us. That’s what our Constitution implies is the means and ends of having a country.
It has not failed us, but the opposite. We have given ourselves collectively over to solo entertainment rather than social exchange.
Trump brought on unthinking change, based on his life’s work of outdoing others in the wealth race. He brought more of the problem, but not all of us realize and accept that.
What are we going to do about that?
Sharon,
Like JoAnn, My experience with unions and politics in general, is fairly extensive. I was on the labor relations council, seeking to support other unaffiliated unions to get the support they needed for their constituency. But what I found, was an agenda that was not for the people, it was for certain political leadership positions within the unions, that were basically on the grift.
I recall when the IBEW local 15 was going on strike, this was the one I belonged to. So the locals from the pipefitters, the carpenters, the boilermakers, The steel workers, The heavy equipment operators, The laborers, asked if they could send their constituencies to stack the picket line! I thought it was a pretty good idea, because we never crossed a picket line from another local no matter what was going on. But I soon found out, it didn’t work both ways. And even though their constituency was on the picket line, they still crossed it! So it really didn’t put pressure on anyone except the constituency that was on strike. Literally on strike. Union Labor councils have representatives from all locals, just like a mini Congress so to speak. And they still lie, steal, and cheat! I resigned from that post, because the president was angry I had agreed to allow pickers from other locals to boost the visuals of the picket lines. You’re right to lawfully redress grievance is a big deal to Union membership. Because of politics between the upper echelons, the workers action was doomed to failure, which it did. It failed! I learned a hard lesson 35 years ago.
And when the county boss came to ask me to run for a position in the state House of Representatives, I was already jaded enough to not want to be involved. So the young man who ran instead of me, went to prison for misconduct! You see, the deck is always stacked against change.
And, this is something that JoAnn understands as well as I.
When I mentioned taxpayers go on strike, that would definitely work. But, how many would actually have the courage to do it? Would you?
JoAnn,
I forgot to mention this example, the nuclear station in Zion Illinois had just undergone a taxpayer funded refurbishing. $300 million
So that group in the nuclear station decided to flex. The union representative in that nuclear enclave, decided to make a power play against wearing uniform shirts. Somehow this was a bridge too far. These nuclear operators made about 60 bucks an hour straight time back then in 2007. They also had huge refrigerators stuffed with food, and meals delivered on the company’s dime so they never had to leave the building. Some of these guys even slept there. So they decided if they could continue to get the company to capitulate, they could get anything they wanted. But the new guy, wasn’t going to capitulate. And he told them if they didn’t wear their uniform shirts, they were going to shut down the nuclear station. They all thought that was a joke, after all, there was 300 million dollars worth of work to refurbish The station and keep it running for another 25 years. So they did work slow downs, and all of the awards gotten for performance were brought in and piled up by the flagpole. The next thing that happened, was the impossible. Or so they thought! The announcement came, the plant was going to be retired in 3 months. And to the day everybody walked off the job, after the plant was put in safe mode, that was the end of the gravy train. And a whole bunch of crying went on, all because someone thought it was a good idea to not wear a uniform shirt. Stupid? Yeah, on all sides! The final act of defiance? Everyone glued their work shoes to the main walkway into the plant. Upper management’s solution? A bobcat scraping the shoes off of the walkway. Why they paid for that? Who knows, there is no longer a nuclear station there today. Nothing but parkland. Greed and retaliation, breakfast of champions.
unions have been chipped away from more conservative intrests than just public intrests. like the growth of the magat bunch thru media etc, is a proven point. no differteny 40 years ago with reagans pattern of oppression on unions. instead of reading the news today, its words shoved in ones ear to make them feel good over the actual needs. trucking is regulated to it demise. even though id like to see everyones butt padded without it. i support mass transit as i watch the power plants in my eyeshot from my NoDak residence spew their climate change,i look at the masse of cars on the big city roads choking up everything else. benifits of the power plants over sitting in a car choking up what could be a benifit to mankind by parking that car. theres more reason why behind why its not done. private ownership, nimby etc. Biden infrastructure took to long to implement and the job i had til now, disappeared because of lack of profit and people to hire to do road work. prevailing wages are being cut up as this is being wrote,starting with the unions representing gov workers. now throw in the migrant deports and trumps,my pocket(his buddies)s, first.
when your in a major metro area, the land and politics are done. unless you scratch the palm.
Baby with bath water. Every employee is entitled to representation. For many the only choice is a union. Unions have undermined themselves over time, but especially in the present, unions need to stand against the enertia to return to slave labor.
Follow the money. New Yorks infrastructure skyrocketing costs? It will lead you right to the Democrats in charge of the city and state. Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul aren’t going to approve a project unless they are getting paid every step of the way.
It works for Republicans in Republican-led states as well.
Todd,
The abundance of pockets they can get their hands in. I’m all for paying first responders, because they save lives. And just to be clear, I’ve had friendships with many first responders. And of course there are bad seeds everywhere, but on the whole, these folks are pretty excellent people. Worth every penny in my opinion. The teachers unions, they’ve become overly authoritarian, with, as in Chicago, getting involved in housing, transportation, parkland, museums, all trying to insert these things into negotiations they have with the city. Talk about overreach, it doesn’t bode well for them in the long run. And why does the public have to fund their retirement programs, and they can also collect social Security? This was a politically concocted scheme to make the unions and graciated to liberals. I wonder if they thought these things would irritate the constituency paying the taxes? I don’t think they did! Or howz about veterans not having to pay property taxes, because they happen to have a disability! Although, they send their kids to the public schools, and many end up getting school vouchers. But the average taxpayer, has no protection against being taxed off of their properties if they are disabled. That’s not a good look, I don’t care what the reason is for it. It’s bogus my brother, and it will not continue because there will be a revolution.
John; my daughter was a member of the National Bakers Union for 25 years, attended all meetings, read all print information and spoke out often (a genetic trait). The last few years she ran for the Union Representative position but lost each time to the same relative of one of the supervisors. Her fellow Union members came to her for answers and she could quote chapter and verse on all issues; she was targeted for unfair and untrue accusations and her knowledge in hearings always cleared her. With no union in Indianapolis Republican City Government; I was never that fortunate during the Goldsmith era.
For Indiana and other states, a lot of the barriers to building infrastructure and housing is at the state level, not federal or city level. Indiana’s issues are not because of Democrats being in control. A big part of it is that the Indiana General Assembly refuses to update housing definitions and regulations. We are building stuff that is not even acknowledged by law here. For those of us that work in local governments, we have to have housing definitions in order to fund housing, and forget about funding innovative housing in Indiana. As a start, Indiana at least needs a housing committee in either the House or Senate for the Indiana General Assembly.
So it is not really about one political party vs the other. California has the worse housing regulations for numerous reasons. A few examples include favoring commercial over residential, and restricting building height in densely populated areas. Whereas, Texas is anything goes when it comes to building.
So it really comes down to states and independent large cities that create barriers and have failed to keep up with housing innovations more so than political parties.
John,
When I read the socialist perspective on economic matters, they abhor the current union structure throughout the country, especially the teachers’ union. After working on a public school failure in my community, my sentiments toward the union boss were very low. She was as corrupt as any of them, but was still part of the status quo. The CFO misused bond funds to pay for wage increases and other items on the wish list – it was fraudulent and constituted an immediate default on the bondholders. Not a single person went to jail. Nobody was even held accountable.
They call Muncie Little Chicago for a reason.
Socialists demand that worker unions be comprised of worker committees to avoid the bureaucracy inherent in a management structure. It’s the bureaucracies that fight for the status quo, making it almost impossible for progressive change. It’s that way because our society is structured improperly due to the influence of capitalism. It’s way too competitive against each other and each group.
As Pete sort of asked, if Happiness is the goal, how best do we organize to achieve it?
The US is ranked very low on the Happiness Index, while nearly ALL Scandinavian countries come out on top. Even Canada kicks our ass.
In my opinion, instead of seeing economists designing policy, we need to hear more from sociologists.
I have listened to people gripe about their own unions for years. The complaints were about the union leadership, that was always corrupt and/or incompetent. I would generally ask if others felt the same. They did. So my next question was why don’t you and the other dissatisfied members get a slate together and challenge the leadership at the next election?
That’s when I discovered that the main reason for bad unions was the members themselves. If they really wanted to change things, they could.
For most of my working life, I was in management. I had the opportunity to advise other managers about their relationships with the unions. My own boss was one of them. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly from both sides. If you really care you’ll find a way to do it right.
Now to the efficiency thing. I seem to recall that Governor Shapiro fixed a collapsed bridge in two weeks. This tells me that we can do things quickly, when we want to. I live in a county that never saw a development project it didn’t want. There used to be an impact fee for developers to pay for infrastructure updates for the development. This has gone away. Now we pay those fees in our property taxes and in our loss of habitat for black bears and panthers particularly, but for all other species as well.
I think it’s time for some new regulations. Lets be smart about it, though. Restart the impact fees Let’s have one form to complete for all agencies and let’s have a subcommittee on efficiency that would have expertise from all agencies involved. One-stop shopping, as it were.
These words, Sheila, regarding regulations that place limits on projects, some sound, some overdone, are smart: “…the issue is so contentious because it isn’t “either/or”–it requires policymakers to find the mean between extremes. How much regulation is needed to safeguard the environment, or protect against government overreach–and how much is too much?” We need to have these conversations but, as you say, they are unlikely to happen these days until “we elect lawmakers who actually care about governing.” The conversations are taking place at universities, by the way, including in my own school of planning and public policy at Rutgers, and are ‘experimenting’ with ideas in studio labs with volunteer municipalities and counties, for example. There is much to draw from, but, again, only if those we elect and appoint care to do their job, as you say, “governing.” Seems a word that is increasingly foreign in the Trump world.
Et al,
Every person here today would do a much better job leading unions, but as has been mentioned, constituency consistently lags behind. Those who are more honest brokers, as JoAnn mentioned, eventually are nailed to their torture stake. You can be smart, and you could be well liked, and you can have all the answers, but that integrity makes a person dangerous. And once they use you, like any commodity, when the package is used, it’s tossed in the trash. I had a cousin who used to always say, he’s “slightly used but not abused” And even though he’s an a-hole, he was right about the connotations of his saying, except if you’ve been used, you probably have been abused!
Just like most folks on this thread, I would rather not be used or abused. I don’t like it very much.
And JoAnn, thanks for the insight! That was a gut punch. Don’t ever change how you do stuff, how you comment or what you feel is pertinent, no matter how many words and syllables it takes. I read everyone, that’s the way I learn. And that’s the way I accumulate appreciation towards those folks who are passionate about what they believe.
Here is how the world actually works!
If you aren’t part of the solution to a problem, you are part of the problem!
Lead, follow, or get out of the way!!
Too many people have no idea about the potential solutions to real problems, so they take the position of opposing any solutions that they don’t understand.
Partly, this is a failure of leadership; i.e. they haven’t done an adequate job of explaining the proposed solution.
Many times it is because they really haven’t understood the problem themselves and are pushing a faulty solution that isn’t really going to solve the problem.
Here’s one for you John; my son worked for a non-union developer, during an OSHA inspection they were cited for not having a horn on their bulldozer. They followed OSHA as ordered, had the horn installed and when the inspector returned to check for compliance, my son (another example of strong genetics) climbed on, fired up the bulldozer and began blowing the horn. OSHA inspector began waving his arms and yelling so Mark shut down the dozer to hear what he said. He told Mark he couldn’t hear the horn when the bulldozer was running, Mark explained to him they don’t need to blow the horn when the dozer is parked.
Same son, same non-union workers, once sat for 3 weeks waiting for unionized workers to return to the job site to move huge pipes and equipment out of their way to begin their work. They were not allowed to move them due to being non-union.
First to emphasize – it is not either/or, although that is often the way it is treated.
Some thoughts to complicate the process.
In ’68, I was invited as a panelist at a UAW conference in Black Lake,Michigan. I spent a good deal of time speaking with older union members, who became political allies. Their complaint was about the younger members. They, the older members, knew (or knew of) the people who risked their lives to unionize, and appreciated what the unions had done for their lives. The younger members, they claimed, lived by the mantra, “what have you done for me lately”. So, the unions, to please the younger members, kept asking for more.
I’d guess this happened in other unions.
On the other hand, I also remember the air traffic controllers union asking for 25 safety changes, and a pay raise, before going on strike. After firing them, Reagan put in all 25 safety changes.
I also remember a teacher’s union in a Detroit suburb, where the school board refused to negotiate a new contract. After working without a contract, they finally went on strike and were fired.
For some, the answer was always “destroy unions”.
As for regulations, they tend to be put in place after something went wrong, so it is regulation upon regulation. Then, they are written as legal documents where one tries to think of every possible noun and verb to describe a situation so no one weasels out due to the wording (oops, we didn’t include “sexual orientation” so you can discriminate on that basis).
No one goes back to streamline, update, or merge the various rules.
Then there is the purposeful addition of red tape to “prevent fraud” often used by Republicans to add requirements, and, as I learned in Chicago, to prevent mixing to ultra-poor with the working-poor in public housing, which, according to the people I spoke with, remove positive role models from the projects – but only the poorest of the poor were taking public money.
Maybe if we had more responsible politicians (some do exist), and businesses viewed labor as partners (with unions reciprocating), instead of cost-points, we could start to streamline the processes to everyone’s benefit.
One can hope.
CGH,
Let me ask you, since you seem to be worldly wise, with that fairly lame attempt to tell everyone how the world works, what is your solution? What would you do with this pending train wreck? Has this happened before in American history? Has this happened before in modern world history? Has this happened before in ancient world history? What is your take on it? I think you got some splainin to do Lucy?!?!
JoAnn,
It’s like the big dog trying to pee on the little dog. Trying to show some sort of dominance. I recall having to install a great big train horn run by compressed air on earth moving equipment. But that was only done after a guy had gotten run over by a giant compactor. Well you can imagine what that looked like. I believe part of the problem to the guy getting run over, he had ear plugs and ear protection in the form of headphones on. So he couldn’t have heard a jet engine firing up right next to him. But they didn’t change those rules! Because people need to be able to listen to music. Sometimes, you can’t fix stupidity. Good for your Son, he spoke up which obviously comes from those good genes. Was he by any chance trained at the local 250 operating engineers training facility in Joliet? At that time, at least I presume, you didn’t have to join the union to be trained. Companies would pay for their engineers to be trained there. Although, as I understand, you have to be a union member now. Being a union member doesn’t automatically make a person smarter, but it can make a person less tolerant!
I’m surprised at several comments here. Is it possible that people are unaware that the numbers and power of union membership have declined dramatically the last 40+ years? Did we somehow miss that many unions over that period agreed to wage and benefit concessions to keep plants in the USA, only to see plants move out of the country regardless?
The auto industry failed for many years to take foreign competition seriously, continuing to make gas guzzlers that didn’t last as long as fuel-efficient foreign vehicles. But that was a management, not a union decision.
So many other products and appliances used to last longer. And I cannot remember any product recalls before companies started moving to other countries with slave wages, lower education levels, fewer regulations, and fewer unions. Even domestic manufacturers use parts made and assembled elsewhere. Recalls will surely continue.
The comments here about the power of teacher unions are also surprising. Teachers’ unions have declined with the nation-wide teacher shortage. If their unions were so powerful, you can be sure that they would be increasing the number and salaries of teachers to match the cost of living and improving working conditions to keep teachers in the profession and our schools.
Large organizations, smaller ones too, can become slow-moving and inefficient with bureaucracy and by becoming ‘siloed’ without coordinating across different departments. Failure to provide a managed overview so that the left and right hands don’t cause each other problems and delays is a cause of inefficiency and unnecessary costs in both public and private sectors.
Every president and governor in both parties assembles a blue-ribbon group to cut regulations and permitting delays. New laws often require new regulations but seldom provide the new government employees to service their implementation. You are right that we need to strike a balance to protect public and environmental health and safety without oppressive delays. But often we don’t have enough government employees to implement laws expeditiously. In Florida, hurricane victims from 3 years ago still await local and state permits to re-build on land they already own because thousands of permit requests have overwhelmed city and county governments. There’s no income tax in Florida, but Florida makes up for it by requiring permits on every little and big thing.
Since January 20, our federal government has cut federal employees by the thousands AND made the government less efficient. Just ask someone trying to get a real person on the phone at the local Social Security office to solve the simplest of problem.
At a time when we really need seasoned governmental managers to manage government, whole departments and seasoned managers are being dismissed – often illegally. Despite public pronouncements to attack waste, fraud, and abuse, our President just pardoned a nursing home executive guilty of millions in fraud, excusing this convict of the court-ordered financial restitution to the government and others de-frauded.
Sometimes we seem to know the price of everything but the value of little. Our cost-cutting in government is now costing us more than it has saved.